Mask Dance Festival at Katok Monastery

Katok Monastery is one of the six principal ("mother") monasteries of the Nyingmapa school of Tibetan Buddhism. It is located on a top of mountain with altitude of 4200 meters above sea level, about 70km from Pelyul (Baiyu) County, Ganzi (Garze) Prefecture, Sichuan, China. It was founded in 1159.

Katok Festival is also called "Katok Mask Dance Festival", it is one of the major events that Katok Monastery holds almost annually. The 10th day of the 6th Month on Tibetan Calendar is the birthday of Padmasambhava (‘Lotus-born’), whom was an 8th-century master of Buddhist tantra. He is revered today as one of the great patriarchs of Tibetan Buddhism and the founder of the Nyingmapa. He is also called “Guru Rinpoche” and “the Buddha of our time”.

Katok Festival is in memory of Padmasambhava. The monks dance wearing Buddhist mask to banish the evil, chant and unfold the Thangka at noon time when the sunshine is at the strongest moment of a day.

West Sichuan adventure travel including Katok Mask Dance Festival in 2021
https://www.tibet-tours.com/842-Experience-Three-Mask-Dance-Festivals-in-Kham-2021.html

Photo by Liu Bin, China Greatway Tour